'Cuse Countdown | Georgia Tech Football | September 7th, 2024

it's a new era in the 315 with a new head coach and quarterback in place the excitement levels are through the roof after a resounding win in week one against Ohio the calendars have been marked for Saturday where 23rd ranked Georgia Tech pays a visit to the Dome it's a big test early in the season for Su in fact it's the earliest Syracuse's face to ranked opponent since 2016 all eyes are on the orange can head coach Fran Brown get a big win in just week two will quarterback Cal mcord put on an encore performance against a better defense does the cuse have what it takes to bring down this ranked Squad we're here to break it all down it's time for the first Q's countdown of the 2024 season here we go [Music] welcome inside our Citrus TV studios for the first C countdown of the Year alongside Tyler Aken and Nick wayy I'm Shri AR regender now fellas I went for a walk earlier today and I saw the leaves kind of fall off the trees we're getting there it's fall and that means it's football season and oh boy does Syracuse football look interesting this year 23rd ranked Georgia Tech has coming to town this Saturday but it wouldn't be right unless we took a look into the past first new coach new quarterback New Era and we saw it on full display just last week Syracuse took down Ohio 3822 started out the gate slow and you that's not the greatest opponent but Tyler you know they did end up getting it done they absolutely did and listen I had two two expectations for Syracuse win the game and if you can run up the score a little bit and guess what that's exactly what Syracuse did 38 points certainly enough in my book and Syracuse won the game now would it have been nice to not give up 22 points to Ohio over 200 rushing yards yes there was going to be a mistake I had more concerns about the offense going into the game and they quelled all of those words I had the same sort of concerns I think there was so many question marks going in there so much anticipation so much excitement excitement that I haven't seen around the Syracuse Orange program in it has to say a really long time but we saw the offense go to work the defense certainly didn't look brilliant giving up 255 rushing yards certainly is not great but this team is going to get better and better with every quarter is played and we saw that with that slow start 0 and six in the first quarter I think this team is just going to get better and better well I did mention that it's a new era for SU football and a whirlwind of an offseason came to a head once week one arrived but it was a signal of change and it all starts with the new headman in charge please come take a walk with me well it was the first game of the season for Fran Brown and it's been quite the journey Brown comes over from Georgia where he was the defensive backs coach which is most definitely a good program to come from seeing how much success this team had in his time there I mean you'd be hard pressed to find a team that's had more success in recent years than the Georgia Bulldogs but finding a person with that type of experience with a well-run program essentially set up what was to come that off season because beyond what he could do on the sidelines every Sunday Browns recruiting was what truly made a big impact on the team Cal McCord f Diggs Zed Haynes I mean I could keep going but it's one of the best recruiting classes Su has had in years getting fourstar players at Cornerstone positions such as quarterback and Edge rusher it's a Changing of the Guard in nearly every sense from Dino babers to the Fran Brown era the culture is changing and SU football as we know it is changing with it and in that season opening win over Ohio I guess we saw the fruits of that labor didn't we Nick absolutely Ely sh I think there was so many question marks going into this season and a lot of that was around Fran Brown whether he could coach this team still wasn't a head coach obviously had that great success at Georgia we saw the recruiting we saw the Vibes he could bring in took them from the third 75th rank recruiting class up to 37 number one recruiter in the country and he's getting the best out of the returning guys as well Ronda Gasson uh Trevor Peña L Quinn Allen Jr and I mean I think if there's anything to take from that first game it is that proof that Fran Brown deserves a head coaching job in the FBS well his biggest concern Nick was whether or not he can make those in-game coaching decisions and he did that he said he was worried about clock management end of the second quarter he calls the right timeout and guess what that resulted in a Syracuse score just need to have those defensive adjustments allowed 128 rushing yards in the first half 127 in the second getting one yard better does not count as a good adjustment overall a positive outcome you know you can't talk about the head coach without talking about the quarterback as well it's a battery right and the other half of this Su battery is Kyle McCord coming over from Ohio State where he was throwing to a Litany of Playmakers now with Syracuse and his first game throws for 354 yards and four touchdowns one pick is the only blemish on that stat sheet but Tyler do the stats really match the eye test for you what you think of his debut well his debut was pretty solid there was only one actual interception but there could have been a lot more interceptions he almost threw two on the very first drive and then he threw an actual interception later so that was a little bit concerning however when you look at the next opponent Georgia Tech they haven't had an interception or a forced fumble All Season they've only had one sack and Georgia Tech has played against Florida State DJ uang has been awful Georgia State's quarterback Christian Bayer he didn't play well Kyle McCord will be the best best quarterback by far that Georgia Tech plays and I honestly think that K mcord is the best quarterback that this Syracuse program has had arly since Donovan McNab there's just that kind of hype around this guy and honestly you mentioned his time at Ohio State obviously going away from Garrett shider is a big change that rushing attack is practically non-existent the few times that MCO did run it he looked okay but it's obviously not the best part of his game but it's clear that mord he's a great Field General I mean the fact that he had career best stats both completions passing and touchdowns in that game against Ohio I think that speaks for itself you're coming from an Ohio State team that had Marvin Harrison Jr who's Pro was a what number two overall pick going to be going to be a star in the NFL I mean I think that just speaks wonders from the cord well the quarterback is only as good as his Supporting Cast you could say and the weapons that Su now has on offense certainly showed out a gadon goes over 100 yard s Trevor Peña with the trio of touchdowns really breaking onto the scene there Nick who is that Bonafide number one option in your eyes cuz it's kind of up in the air it it really is at this point in the season we've only seen one game there's going to be so many different uh positions and so many different formations that we're going to see throughout the year but I honestly think Trevor Peña could be a hybrid First Option think about it arand Gadson is a top five tight end in the NCAA at the moment he's going to be triple in triple coverage or double coverage on every single play and that's why Peña saw so much success he already has three touchdowns this season that's triple what he had in his entire Su career up until that game on Saturday I think paena could break out as a star receiver on this Su team Nick can I give you some stats real quick go ahead all right so seven receptions 12 targets 108 yards 33 yards after catch those are not Trevor Peña stats those are Rand gadston stats and guess what those are all number one on the team in the first game and he was double teamed the entire game against Ohio I get it more touchdowns for paena but that will all even out by the end of the season three touchdowns for paa against Ohio gadson's touchdowns are going to come if you look at the majority of the stats Gadson is by far the number one option and if you'll just look at their height who would you rather throw it to I'm not trying to be mean to pñ but who would you rather throw it to he is a he's a big dude and that's just that is why gon is so good but that's why teams know that he's going to be tripled every single time well both guys really came up big in week one let's see if they have an encore performance in week two the offense put a points but the defense really was on the opposite side there the defense gave up yards 436 of them nearly half on the ground to Anthony tus now you look at this defense though guys like fidil digs still made impact plays so Tyler is there a really high level of concern with this defense or will it kind of fix itself as the season goes on yes there are absolutely some concerns with this defense and like you mentioned with Fidel Diggs a great defensive lineman the issue isn't with him it's with the other defensive lineman five out of Syracuse's six top tacklers against Ohio came from the secondary or the linebacker room Fidel digs the lone exception that means that Syracuse is Syracuse was Ohio to get to the second the third level of the defense defensive linemen like Dennis JZ Jr Kevin JY Jr they had three tackles combined they need to step up Diggs can't do it all on the line and I I totally agree with you Tyler I think but this is the first game we knew that there was going to be a few teething troubles it was not going to be that simple I think for dill Diggs obviously one of the biggest transfers in the history of Syracuse football coming in from Texas A&M I thought he was fantastic really and throughout the game definitely the standout look it's going to take time and the team's only going to get better do you need to do you need to teeth against Ohio though I yes but at the same time you got to take every game game by game it's going to get better well we've talked about Syracuse football ad nauseum so when we come back we're flipping Fields 23rd ranked Georgia Tech is next for Su coming off some big time momentum and we're going to get into the nitty-gritty with the Yellow Jacket stay tuned [Music] [Music] straight of welcome back to Q's countdown alongside Tyler Aken and Nick wayy I'm Shar renderin we just talked about the cuse but it's a tough road ahead of this team even after just one week because 23rd ranked Georgia Tech enters the Dome and with some life an opening win over then 10th ranked Florida State in Ireland followed by a blowout of Georgia State I mean that has the squad rolling Nick are you surprised at all by this start or is it something we should come to expect from this Georgia Tech Team I mean this a Georgia Tech team that came up s- six win season but they had quite a few good wins especially against ranked ACC opponents is that number 10 win against FSU really that valuable I don't know especially what we saw against BC the other night I still think that this is a team that Syracuse con slou at absolutely not and you learn a lot more about a team from their losses than their wins this is a Georgia Tech team that brought back eight offensive starters four defensive starters and lost to Georgia number one team in the country last year by one possession eight points a lot of those players are back this year and they have gotten better and better every year under Brent key we'll be talking about him in a minute but Georgia Tech is constantly beating up on teams that are supposedly better than it not shocked at all by this start and at the head of head of this operation is head coach Brent K who is in his second year and Fran Brown actually has some Rapport there as he stated in a recent press conference whenever we see each other we talk if I was like about to go somewhere he probably have like but we not going to be calling each other I'm not doing that with nobody you know we're not about to call each other we'll talk before the game make sure his daughter and his family is doing okay ask personal questions like that but you know we we trying to we about to compete you know this is this for it's for it all right now you know well I guess it's friends until it's war and ke went seven and six last season but beat a few ranked teams and now this season they are on top of their game to start Tyler what can you say about the job that Brent key has done so far well he's done a phenomenal job and that's not just because of what he did last year that's because of what he did when he was an interim head coach in 2022 he coached the last eight games of the regular season and in college football it's so hard so hard to be an interim head coach comes in and he has two ranked wins right away that's almost impossible to do but look at his resume he was at Al abama as an offensive line coach he completely revitalized ucf's program before that he has an amazing resume and now he's proving it as a head coach and in 2022 he beat number 24 pit number 13 North Carolina then beat them the the Tar Heels again in 2023 along with that crazy game uh at Hard Rock stadium against U Miami uh last season I think this is a guy who knows how to build a successful Pro and we saw that with UCF cre Creed the building blocks for what was an incredible team in the mid-2010s BR key could be the key for Georgia Tech well one thing that key emphasizes is the Run game which could itself be the key in this one lot of keys there I'm sorry Jamal Haynes the lead back at two scores against FSU Haynes King at quarterback he knows how to use his legs as well I mean we just saw Anthony tus of Ohio run for 200 plus yards on this team Nick is there cause for worry after seeing su's run defense one easy answer yes absolutely this Georgia Tech team has been running through teams I mean we saw that against FSU we saw that against Georgia State as well this a yellow jackets team that knows how to run the football I mean at the same time they don't they they're a aerial threat isn't that bad either we'll get on to them in a second but I do have major concerns for that Syracuse run defense and I'm certain I'm practically certain that Georgia Tech will have a field day and that's the concern there's two there's two really solid options with both Haynes Haynes King and Jamal Haynes the solution Syracuse needs to have a Rover locked in on the quarterback Haynes King Justin Baron should be the guy for Syracuse to try to contain him I suppose the heavy Reliance On The Run game is kind of overcompensation for the pass game because frankly the yellow jackets don't throw the ball that much but Tyler are you worried about any of GT's receivers is there a pass game that needs to be feared with the yellow jackets there is not a single receiver that scares me on this Georgia Tech roster and that's nothing against them but what have they what have they done look at this list Malik Rutherford is by far and away their best wide receiver he just had his best game of his four-year career at Georgia Tech 130 yards against Georgia State a team that didn't exist until I was 7 years old that's the only time he's had over 100 receiving yards I'm not scared of anyone on that list look look at that man on the right unfortunately we don't have it written in there but Eric Singleton Jr was the ATC offensive Rookie of the Year you're telling me that he can't have an explosive game he can't step up in a big occasion only sophomore he's going to have he has a great career ahead of him I think that if he's given the ball and he's given a given the the production that he needs he could have a Breakout game against Syracuse you have to say the Syracuse secondary has been really good but I definitely think it could be a bit of a threat well it's been a lot of chatter about offense but the defense for GT you could say has come up big and big moments 33 points allowed in two games Nick can I color you impressed by that Stat or does Syracuse present a whole new challenge here I think Syracuse presents a whole new challenge I think the Syracuse attack was the most impressive part of that Syracuse win against Ohio throwing I think MCO is the real deal I think he's going to be fantastic for this Syracuse team it's a Georgia tee defense that in my opinion was was not that good against FSU gave up nearly threw the game away at the end especially on fourth down gave up 57% of four of their fourth down conversions this season so far only have one sack on throughout the whole season so far that's definitely a concern for me I mean Nick like I mentioned earlier Kyle McCord will be by Far and Away the best quarterback that s that Georgia Tech faces all year long and so it's a new challenge for Georgia Tech the run defense will do pretty well but against Kyle McCord it's the first time that the yellow jackets will be tested I really don't know what to expect out of their secondary well when we come back love it or hate it it's time to go to school and our analysts are going to hand out some grades to SU football could be some harsh truth here stay tuned folks [Music] e [Music] a [Music] [Music] beautiful we've changed settings here on Q's countdown Professor Tyler Aken and Professor Nick Wy right beside me I'm Shar renderin I guess you can call me principal renderin for a bit here because you two are going to be grading how different aspects of SU football have performed thus far so my two dashing professors are you guys ready absolutely on man let's go well let's start with the big guys up front in the trenches the offensive line there were some questions during the offseason on how this group you know would come to be would it be good would it be bad but Tyler do you think you know is it trending positive or negative for you oh it's absolutely trending positive I'm giving Syracuse uses offensive line an a Nick do you have any professors that let you have one free absence without taking anything off your participation grade man I wish honly well I have some professors that are just like that it's the same thing they allowed one sack in this week in this week one matchup against Ohio you can have one free sack still get an A with Kyle McCord a pretty immobile quarterback I'm very happy with the fact that he only got dragged down once I have to agree with you Tyler I mean I think this is an offensive line that really struggled in previous seasons for Syracuse I'm giving them a B+ the Improvement in protecting mold was apparent it's a big reason why he had a career- defining game I think this offensive line is certainly one to look out for in the future well fellas let's move out of the trenches now the linebackers are the next on the grading docket here the captains of the defense the ones who hold the Green Dot but Nick Marlo wax went down and was set to be out for a few weeks by Fran Brown how big of a loss is this and how would you grade the group as a whole following the injury this is the biggest possible loss that this Syracuse team could have had I'm giving them a c and that's honestly being generous because Marlo wax is not just the captain of the defense he's the signal caller for that defense and he's one of the best middle linebackers in the country who is going to come in for Maro wax is it the red shirt freshman James herd who has only played three games in his college career how big of a downgrade is that on Marlo wax I have big concerns for the linebackers well Nick this is why you have to grade on a curve I'm going with a B+ because you just said it Marlo wax is hurt in Syracuse still played pretty well the run defense was a concern but James herd who you were just disrespecting had an interception right when he came in to support Marlo wax the linebacker group wasn't the only reason either for those struggles against the run it was the defensive line that really let the defense down like I mentioned Kevin jidy had like one tackle uh Dennis Joz Jr had two tackles that's not good enough the linebackers they did their job Marlo ax went out and they pulled it together and caused the only turnover of the day for Syracuse and so when like I said I'm a nice Professor I grade them on a curve I'm going B+ I think that's pretty fair well finally here fellas a big aspect of the game is how you manage it and Fran Brown kind of got a taste of what it's like to be a head coach in helming the entire operation Tyler strictly off game management how would you grade Fran Brown's performance in his debut well Shri car I'm going to go with a B minus and listen there are a few different things that go into game management there's clock management which he did a great job with he made sure that Syracuse got the ball back at the end of the second quarter and scored a touchdown but then guess what Syracuse got the ball back to start the second half and went three and out when Syracuse could have doubled up and scored an extra touchdown another part of game manag management is coaching adjustments and Syracuse's defense allowed 128 rushing yards in the first half and 127 rushing yards in the second half getting one yard better does not give you credit for in-game adjustments so the clock management was good and already better than Dino babers who you know was the former head coach for Syracuse but overall I'm going to go be minus I think that's fair it is a bit fair but I'm going to give them a little bit more credit you mentioned maybe who D who should not be named Dino babers now obviously the coordinator at UFA that was a big issue throughout his whole tenure at Syracuse he should be this game management was an A minus for me Syracuse towards the end of that that first half had 44 seconds to score a touchdown and they did to make it an eight-point lead at the break that is what ultimately gave Syracuse that momentum into the second half well class has been dismissed and soon we will be two for this addition accused countdown but there's still some time left to take a look into the future for Su our predictions for Saturday are coming real soon we'll be right back here we go we're going to go out there the rain going to get wet all right here we go oh yeah yes so much fun well Thomas you've got pre-diabetes but with more exercise and a change in diet it can be reversed I've tried exercising it it just makes me hungry for bacon I love bacon too and who really likes to exercise not me me neither nobody so we're good what oh you pre-diabetes Big Time welcome back to Q's countdown Tyler a and Nick wayy I'm Shri arender and fellas it's a new ACC as we know it some new teams in some old teams out and we got to see it all for the first time in week one it made for some good games and some interesting results as well and Nick when we take a look at these scores from week one any outcome stand out in particular I mean obviously the Bost in college Florida State one that's a big one because that directly affects the game for Syracuse and GC this weekend but obviously Miami I did not expect cam Wy to be that good 41 to 17 in the swamp to impressive Nick what I'm looking at 20 number 24 NC State they looked ugly and just barely pulled away to beat Western Carolina the score does not indicate what that game was and then Virginia Tech loses in overtime to Vanderbilt those are supposed to be two under the radar teams in the conference what this week told me the ACC is wide wide open well it's an early conference game for Su on Saturday but looking beyond that game there's some exciting stuff on the schedule Tyler I know it's only week two but is there any matchup in particular that sticks out to you as one that you know Syracuse really needs to pencil in well getting Beyond Georgia Tech I think I have to go with UNLV and this is a game that Syracuse fans are thinking of as whoa I get to go to Vegas to support my team but UNLV is a very good team they almost shut out a power four team in Houston in week one eventually gave up a touchdown but they looked locked down that was on the road Syracuse has to go all the way across the country to Las Vegas with all the distractions and take on one of the best best group of five teams in the country that's going to be difficult Holy Cross is an FCS team Stanford probably the worst team in the ACC UNLV will be a big one I still think at the same time you got to put a little bit of respect on Stanford they're not terrible because I think the ACC like you mentioned is wide open it's also the games that are going to be further down the line from unlb the NC State game the Virginia Tech game as well those are the games that are going to define the Syracuse season I was very optimistic I thought Syracuse had a small chance of getting at least to the conference Championship possibly the college football player if I was a pure Optimist but look those those games are going to be very crucial for Syracuse and ACC play certainly well before we sign off real quick Nick who's bringing home the bacon will Su get that ranked win in the dome in week two oh man it's going to be unbelievably close these are two teams that look on fire they look like they're going to be two of the better teams in the ACC I've got Syracuse winning 31-28 a last minute field field goal by Brady Denberg he's going to be that get that hero for Syracuse it's going to be Inc extra extremely close the dome's going to be packed I'm sure I'm definitely excited for it well Nick I certainly hope it doesn't come down to BR Denberg in this one but I think you copied off me I've got a very similar score 31 to 27 Syracuse will get the win and that's because like I said the key to this game is Syracuse not stopping the run but establishing a run of its own this is a laquint Allen Legacy game Fran Brown said he wanted laquin Allen to have 1500 rushing yards this year and this game will help him get closer to that Mark and I'll go 3024 Su pretty similar across the board fellas I mean it is going to be a close game for sure I do worry about su's run defense Jamal Haynes coming into the Dome it might spell trouble but ultimately got to put my faith in Cal Mt and that offense to ultimately get the job done at the end of the day well that'll do it for Q's Countdown the first one of the year it's all the time we got folks thank you for tuning in for Tyler raiken Nick Wy I'm Shri car rendin saying so long enjoy the game and we will see you next time on the countdown